Deandrea Hamilton | Editor
July 19, 2025 – The world is officially off track in delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with just five years left until the 2030 deadline. That’s the sobering message from the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, as they launched the SDG Report 2025 on July 14.
“Only 35 percent of SDG targets are on track or making moderate progress. Nearly half are moving too slowly, and 18 percent are going in reverse,” Guterres stated. “We are in a global development emergency.”
The report outlines real, measurable wins: more than 110 million additional children are in school since 2015. New HIV infections are down 40 percent since 2010. Electricity access now reaches 92 percent of the global population, and 45 countries have achieved universal electricity. Internet use has soared by 70 percent in a decade, now reaching 68 percent of the world’s people. Child marriage is declining, and more girls are staying in school. Globally, renewable energy capacity is growing, especially in developing nations.
“These gains show that investments in development and inclusion yield results,” Guterres added.
But the challenges dwarf the progress.
Over 800 million people remain trapped in extreme poverty. Billions lack access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. Women continue to spend 2.5 times more hours than men doing unpaid care and domestic work. Climate change is accelerating, with 2024 confirmed as the hottest year on record—1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. Meanwhile, debt burdens are worsening: in 2023, low- and middle-income countries paid $1.4 trillion in debt servicing—draining resources needed for development.
The Secretary-General pointed to one core issue: financing. The global SDG financing gap for developing nations now stands at $4 trillion annually. Worse still, Haiti is the least-funded of all humanitarian responses globally—an example of how international priorities are dangerously imbalanced.
“There is something fundamentally wrong in the structure of the global economic and financial system,” Guterres said. “We need reforms. Debt relief. Tripling development bank lending. Fairer trade and access to capital.”
The SDG report proposes a shift toward six “transformational pathways” in food systems, energy, digital access, education, jobs, and climate. These, it argues, will accelerate progress across all other goals—if funded properly and backed by political will.
Guterres urged global leaders to use upcoming moments, including the World Social Summit (November 4–6 in Doha, Qatar), the High-Level Political Forum, and the Food Systems Stocktake, to commit to urgent action.
“The Sustainable Development Goals are still within reach,” he concluded. “But only if we act—with urgency, unity, and unwavering resolve.”
